


Somewhere Over the Rainbow

by Cyanne



Category: Quantum Leap
Genre: M/M, Zinefic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-04
Updated: 2011-07-04
Packaged: 2017-10-21 02:50:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/220063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyanne/pseuds/Cyanne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas, and Sam Beckett is finally home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Finishing the last of his letters, he looked up at the clock across from his desk and saw that it was well after ten. He sighed, a sound that barely expressed the sadness he carried, but it was all he had the energy for. The complex was quiet. Save for some security guards around the perimeter, Admiral Albert Calavicci was the only occupant, and that suited him fine. Everyone else had scattered for a late holiday celebration, although they could be called back at a moment's notice if anything happened.

It wasn't for lack of options that he was alone. He'd had plenty of invitations to New Year's parties, but since the only person he really wanted to be with wasn't able to attend, he didn't have any need to be there either.

Sam had leapt out of his last assignment late in the morning of December 27th, local time. For him, it had been late June. Here it had been Christmas, but for the fifth year in a row, there was nothing for Al to celebrate. 

The leaps seemed to be getting more and more intense of late, and more difficult to complete. First there had been the anthropologist who had accidentally gotten dosed with a hallucinogenic drug. Dealing with a brain already scrambled by leaping that was also high on drugs and at the same time stopping the dealers trying to spread the drug throughout the city was challenging to say the least, but Sam had pulled it off. Then there had been the cop in an Italian restaurant full of innocent people, dealing with a potential mob hit while his partner lay shot in the back room. Next had been an undercover agent who had to diffuse a nuclear device in a bowling alley of all places. Al was still shaking his head over that one.

And this last leap- so much blood and death. At least this time Sam had remembered that they were lovers. That wasn't always the case, and sometimes that was a blessing-  especially if the person Sam leapt into had to be intimate with someone in the course of the leap. He always let Sam take the lead, gauging how much he remembered and adjusting his responses accordingly. But it was always hard for him to watch Sam with someone else.

This time Sam had leapt into a trauma doctor and he had arrived in the aftermath of a terrorist bomb that had exploded in an embassy. Three days of on the fly surgery had brought back terrible flashbacks of the war for Al, although had he tried his best not to let his lover know of his distress as he guided him through the leap. Living though it had been bad enough, having to watch was almost worse. Sam's medical training had been essential and they had been damned lucky that he remembered almost all of his skills. But clinical operations in a clean hospital and emergency surgery in the field were two entirely different things and it wasn't long before all of the medical personnel were overwhelmed.

The unrelenting stream of injured took its toll on Sam, especially as the deaths mounted. It was impossible to save everyone. In fact, in order for Time to flow properly, he could not. To complete the leap, the cold facts of the situation dictated that certain people had to be saved to avert a future war. In the end, Al had ordered Sam to allow him to take full responsibility and he directed Sam which patients to go to first. He himself followed Ziggy's orders almost on auto-pilot. It was simply the only way to get through. Finally it was over, and Sam had leapt.

This had been another difficult leap in a long string of difficult leaps, one after another after another. The only saving grace was the breaks in between, it was almost as if whoever was running the show was trying to give them a break between nightmares. The pattern lately had been a lag time of almost exactly five days, Stallion's Gate time, between leaps. If the timeline held, Sam wasn't due to arrive again until sometime on January 3rd,. He always wondered where Sam went during the in-between-time and he hoped that he was getting some kind of rest.

Tonight Al had been catching up on his letters to Sam's family. Ever since Sam had left, he had kept in touch with Sam's family as best he could, maintaining the fiction of a deep cover government protection. Although the letters were some of the hardest that he ever had to write, he owed it to Sam to give his family a sense of hope that their loved one would come back. Al just hoped it was a promise they could keep, and that it would be soon.

He was late writing his letters this year, because of the hectic nature of the leaps lately and also because of the frenzy over the potential Y2K bug.  Everything he and Sam had designed automatically accounted for a four digit year but they had had to check all of the outside contractors' work. Fortunately, all of the project's computers had checked out okay and they weren't in danger of a crash when the year changed to 2000.

Al was tired, he was worried, and most of all, he was lonely. He took off the reading glasses that he had finally conceded to wear and rubbed his eyes. Waiting could often be the worst part of the whole observer job, even harder than watching Sam without being able to touch him. At least during a leap, he knew where and when Sam was and exactly what was happening. Al always worried between leaps until Sam arrived safely at his next point in time. Or as safe as he could be considering the circumstances. And he always wondered how long they could keep this up, and especially how long Sam could keep going.

This had been the fifth Christmas Sam had missed. In keeping with his tradition, Al had added to his stash of presents for his friend. Over the years he had accumulated a fair sized collection books and cds so his partner could get caught up on some of what he'd missed. This year had also bought an extravagant gold bracelet. Sam would probably never wear it, it was almost too flashy, but he hoped he'd at least get the chance to give it to him. It would go nicely with the watch he'd purchased for him the year before. He'd always thought Sam would look good in gold. Maybe he would wear it, at least for him. After all, his lover had been known to surprise him a time or two over the years. There was no figuring out the strange mind that was Sam Beckett, and he wouldn't have him any other way.

 Too tired to make the trek back to his place, he crashed on the couch and tried to sleep. He felt closer to Sam in the office then almost anywhere else save the imaging chamber. The couch had been one of their  early purchases, a bright purple and blue affair that was long enough for Sam to stretch out on and wide enough to hold the two of them. They had spent countless nights there, discussing everything from quantum physics and time travel to baseball strategy and bad movies while wrapped up in each other's arms. They had also done some experimenting of their own, trying out almost every imaginable position and angle on their comfy couch.

He never had quite gotten used to sleeping alone, and nights like these were the worst. Eventually, Al finally fell asleep, dreaming in silence of blood and bodies and never ending lines of causalities and the face of his lover in the middle of it all.

 

It was into this relative calm after the storm that Sam Beckett finally came home.

 

Arriving in the darkened room, he was as confused and disoriented as he always was upon landing in a new place. Before he had a chance to look around, he heard a familiar voice.

"Welcome home, Dad." The lights automatically came up to halfway and he recognized the accelerator chamber. "Home" he whispered. Then louder, but still slightly hesitant, he asked "Ziggy?"

"Who else? Hi Dad, welcome home."

"Thanks," Sam replied, with a broad grin. The joy permeated his voice as he asked, "Is anyone here?"

"I'm here, what more could you want?," came the petulant answer.

"Very funny, Ziggy. You know what I mean. And just because I've been gone for…, what year is it anyway?"

"1999. The 31st of December to be exact. Linearly, you've been gone four years, seven months, and sixteen …."

"I get the idea Ziggy, thank you, " Sam interrupted, with a laugh. "I don't remember programming you to be a Vulcan."

"Just answering your question, Dad. No need to get snippy."

"Now I know I didn’t program you for that. And just because I've been gone, doesn't mean I don't still know how to turn you off. So answer my other question, is anyone _else_ here?"

"Only Dada, he's asleep in the couch in your office."
    
    
    Ziggy had bestowed the names on them early in her awareness. On the surface Al bristled at being called 'Dada' but Sam always knew his friend thought it a great honor, just as he was thrilled to be 'Dad.'
    
    
     _Al..._ Sam smiled at the thought of his lover, glad that he was here at the project. He was thrilled to be back and he was looking forward to seeing Gooshie, Tina, Verbena and everyone else he had missed. He couldn't wait to get back to Indiana and see his family again, he had missed his mom and his sister, and oh God, his brother Tom, so much. But to come home to Al, that was what he really wanted. Time, finally all the time they needed, and the chance to be alone with Al before the reality of being home and the hurricane of activity that would follow, would hit. 

"Could you do me a favor?"

"I won't alert anyone that you have returned until you are ready. Most of the staff won't be back for another three days at the earliest, they weren't expecting you to leap until then."

Scary how that computer could read his mind. The only other person who could do that was Al. Other person? When had Ziggy become… never mind. He was too confused to be trying to make sense out of his AI program right then.

"Um, Ziggy…"

"Make a left in the hallway, take the elevator to the third floor, second door on the right. I've already unlocked the door."

Very, very scary.

"Thanks Ziggy."

"You're welcome, Dad. I’m happy you're home."

"So am I."

Wandering through the halls of the project, the memories started to return. When the elevator reached the third floor, it took everything Sam had not to run down the hall. The closer he got to Al, the shakier he felt with anticipation. He wondered if this were real. Four, almost five years…   such a long time to be gone. So much had changed, both because of his leaping and because of the simple passage of time. But somehow he _knew_ that Al would be waiting for him and that they would be all right. That was all that really mattered.

He looked into the dimly lit room, and smiled as he saw his lover stretched out on their couch, wrapped up in the quilt his mom had given them years ago. His smiled faded slightly as he wondered where that memory had come from. Deciding not to worry about it for the moment, he concentrated on the figure in front of him. Al didn't look any different to him, probably because he'd seen him almost every day as a hologram. But he still couldn't quite get used to the idea that he could touch him.

Still not convinced of the reality of it all, he gingerly crossed the room and knelt in front of the couch. Sam could hear his lover's breathing and as he leaned close, realized could feel the air coming from his mouth. Unable to resistant any longer, leaned down and kissed his lips, relishing the soft moan his touch elicited.

You'd better be thinking of me… but the thought was without malice and he was reassured when a groggy voice asked, "Sam?"

"Right here, Al."

"S'is a nice dream, c'mhere" came the almost incoherent answer, but Sam had gotten used to interpreting Al-ese over the years. "You gotta move over, love."

" 'kay", Al mumbled as he shifted toward the back of the couch to make room. Holding his arms out, he said insistently, "come here."

"You know, this would be a lot more fun if you'd actually wake up," Sam laughed, as he crawled onto the couch and put his arms around the other man. He leaned in for a proper kiss and felt Al's mouth open beneath his. He enjoyed that familiar, long lost taste and almost started to believe that he was home. Just as his tongue was making itself comfortable in his lover's mouth, Al's eyes flew open and he pulled back with a look of sheer astonishment on his face. "Sam?"

He resisted the urge to tease and instead gently replied, "Yes, Al, it's me. I’m home and I hope it's for good."

Still in shock, all Al could do was repeat his name. "Sam?"

Dismayed to see the tears that clouded his lover's eyes, Sam tried a more direct approach, pulling Al to him and hugging him as hard as he could, "It's all right, I'm right here, not going anywhere, love you, love you, love you, missed you so much." He kept up the litany of reassurances as he held Al tight, one arm reaching to gently stroke his back. The gesture was as much to calm Al as it was to persuade himself that his lover was solid and that they really were together.

"Missed you, too, Sam, " Al choked out in a voice husky with emotion. "Love you, don't you dare ever leave me again."

They held onto each other for the longest time, but eventually loosened their grip without letting go of each other. Sam found himself holding Al cradled against his chest, with Al's arms around him holding him securely in return. He was more comfortable than he could remember being in a long, long time.

"It got really bad toward the end there, didn't it?" Sam asked after a while.

"Yeah, it was kinda rough. Um, how much do you remember?" They both spoke quietly, as if hesitant to break the spell.

"Bits and pieces, but it seems to be getting a little clearer. A lot changed, didn't it?"

"You could say that. You did a lot of good out there, Sam."

"Wonder why I got to come home now?" As he apprehensively asked the question he also unconsciously tightened his hold on Al, almost as if he were afraid something was going to snatch him away again.

"I love you too, Sam, but I've got to breathe. Let up a little." He looked up at the man holding him and smiled. "Maybe whoever was pulling the strings used you.."

"Us," Sam interjected, with a certainly that allowed no argument. He had no illusions that without Al as his partner, he never would have gotten through the first leap, let alone four and a half years worth.

"Us," Al agreed and continued with a smile, "to fix a couple of last major things and then decided to let you come home. Maybe you were done everything you're were supposed to do."

"I don't think it's ever finished Al, there's just too damn much that's wrong…"

"And maybe there are things that aren't supposed to be fixed and maybe you aren't the only one out there fixing things and you're not going back out there if I have anything to say about it," Al finished saying his piece in a rush, almost as if he were afraid Sam would go and leave him again, but it was all said with certainty.

"I'm not planning on it, Al, believe me. I've got everything I want right here and I'm happy with the way things turned out. Tom's alive, we're together… I can't ever regret leaping Al, as much as I hated all the time that we spent apart and everything that I missed. But we did so much good out there, and the changes led us here." A short pause, and then, "I don't know how I know this, but we weren't lovers when I leapt originally were we?"

"No," Al answered quietly, without accusation.

"But you wanted us to be," Sam asked, just as gently.

"Yes."

"When?"

"When what? When did I want you? The day I first met you," he declared with a leer, but Sam could see the love underneath shining through. "When did we become lovers? You'll probably start to remember it all, actually since you and I were the only ones who know about the changes, you'll probably remember both timelines like I do. We met in '82 on Star Bright, that didn't change, and we were friends from the start, that was the same too."

"When, Al?" Sam asked again, with just a hint of impatience. He was almost afraid to know the answer, afraid to know what he'd really done.

"This timeline, it was in '95. Two months before you leapt." At Sam's gasp of horror at the realization, he hastened to reassure him. "Don't Sam, don't go there, it's okay. It's over. I'd forgive you but there's nothing to forgive."

Sam took a deep breath and tried to calm himself, tried to remind himself that he was home and safe in his lover's arms. Once he was sure he could speak without his voice breaking he asked, "What changed?"

"Beth did divorce me when I went back to Vietnam for the second time, and shh Sam, don't fret, it's okay. It was the right thing for both of us. I was still a pow but somehow it didn't hurt as much since I wasn't expecting her to be waiting for me when I got home. Somehow you were there too, and it turned out okay. You fixed it."

"And the others?"

"I knew them all at some point, slept with some but not all. My only other marriage in this timeline was you, and that's the only one that counts."

"But I left you…."

"Not exactly. I mean you did, but we weren't together like this when you left. Don't go off on one of you guilt trips, love. It was the only way to get to where we are now like you just said. It's over. Let it go." In a blatant attempt to change the subject, he said, "By the way, you've got almost five years worth of birthday, Christmas, and anniversary presents waiting for you at home. But I know one present I want to start unwrapping right now."  reached both his hands underneath Sam's body and starting licking and nuzzling his neck.

Sam was surprised Al had been able to hold off as long as he had, but now that he felt his lovers hands on him, he realized he was just as hungry to touch and be touched. He

moved his hands up reach under his Al's shirt when a bolt of fear shot through him. Without realizing it, he froze in his lover's embrace. Ceasing his ministrations , Al lifted his head and looked in Sam's eyes. "What is it Sam, what's wrong?"

"What time is it?"

"We've finally got the chance to make love after years and years of having to make do with only being able to look at each other and you wanna know what time it is? Boy, have you got your priorities backwards." He glanced up at the ceiling with an look of long suffering devotion on his face but looked down again as Sam repeated, "What time is it, Al? Please, this is important."

Al maneuvered his arm from underneath Sam's body so he could see his watch. "Two minutes to midnight. Hey, you made it home in time for the turn of the century."

"What if I leap back out again at midnight?"

"Are you crazy? No, strike that, I already know the answer. Of course you are. What makes you think you'll turn into a pumpkin and leap out again at midnight?"

"I don’t know, just a feeling. It's almost too good…"

"Don't say it, " Al warned. "This time your gut is wrong. You're staying here, with me." He sounded determined but Sam could see a hint of fear in his eyes and he regretted having put it there. "Come here." He shifted them both so he was laying spooned up behind Sam, his left arm with his watch resting on Sam's hands as they held his right hand close to his chest. "You're not going anywhere, I promise. Now just countdown with me to New Year's and give me a kiss like every other couple on the planet."

Sam didn’t answer, so Al just pressed up against him tighter and whispered in his ear "5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. It's midnight, Happy New Year's love."

No familiar blue aura overtook him, there was no tingling sense of leaping, just the solid reality of Al behind him. Sam released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding and he turned to properly welcome in 2000 with his lover- only to pull back again as another thought hit him.

"Now what, Sam, Al asked, his voice sounding just this side of exasperated at having been denied again.

"What if it's not this time zone? What if … " He didn't get to finished the question as his lover decided to take things into his own hands and shut him up with a passionate kiss. "If you're going to argue times zones, and I would think that you'd have better things to do right about now…" as he stopped to bestow another kiss on the unresisting mouth, "then GMT is the standard, and that's …"

"Seven hours ahead of us, " Sam said excitedly, picking up on exactly where Al was going with this.

"And it's already morning there, " Al continued, "besides which, the new millennium technically doesn’t start until next year, 2001, and I would think a scientist of your caliber would know that," he finished teasingly. Sam had known that, but it was a sign of how happy he was to be home and how badly he didn’t want to have to leave that he hadn't thought about it. "So I think you're just going to have to accept the fact that you're home to stay. Now, come over here and let me show you."

And he did.

**Author's Note:**

> Published in Deck the Halls, Christmas 2003.


End file.
